In the latest episode of the State of the Arts podcast (@sotapod), filmmaker and writer Des Doyle sits down with acclaimed television writer, producer, and co-creator of The Big Bang Theory, Bill Prady, for a detailed chat about his new show Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, getting a second shot at a pilot, and a shared passion for comic artwork.
Produced in partnership with Film Ireland and supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland through the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, the State of the Arts series explores the creative processes, industry challenges, and new opportunities that both Irish and international creatives face in today’s ever-evolving artistic landscapes.
During this conversation, Bill reflects on leaving his day job as a computer programmer, fondly recalls his work with Muppets creator Jim Henson and shares skills he developed along the way – ultimately leading to the co-creation of The Big Bang Theory. The discussion also explores understanding neurodiversity, the importance of curiosity and collaboration, and the lessons he has learned over a career spanning more than four decades.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
Bill Prady
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Prady began his work in entertainment in 1983 at Jim Henson Productions (then Henson Associates, Inc.). This followed a brief career as a computer programmer and partner in a software company.
Working with Jim Henson, Prady wrote a wide variety of projects, the last being The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, a posthumous tribute to the late puppeteer, for which he received one of his five Emmy nominations.
Following his work with Henson, Prady wrote for a number of television comedy and drama series. His first produced episode of series television was an episode of Married... with Children in 1991; his first staff writing job was on the HBO series Dream On in 1995.
In 1997, he joined the writing staff of Dharma & Greg, rising to executive producer and taking over as "showrunner" in 2001. In 2007, Prady co-created the hit CBS series The Big Bang Theory with television veteran Chuck Lorre. He served as an executive producer of that series until its finale in May 2019. He is now co-creator and executive producer of The Big Bang Theory spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, currently streaming on HBO Max.
In addition to his Emmy nominations, Prady has received two Writers' Guild awards, a CableACE Award, and eleven People's Choice Awards for his work as both a writer and producer. He has also been nominated for two additional Writers' Guild awards and five Golden Globe Awards. For his work with NASA (a storyline on Big Bang promoting space exploration), Prady was awarded the Agency's Exceptional Public Achievement Medal, NASA's third-highest civilian honor.
He is a graduate of the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and attended Wayne State University in Detroit. In the spring of 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wayne State. In 2021, he married award-winning writer Jessica Queller (Pretty Is What Changes). He has two children, Stella and Asher, and a stepdaughter, Sophie.
Des Doyle
Des is a D.I.T. graduate who spent fifteen years working in the Camera Department in the Irish film industry before moving into directing. He is the writer/director of the critically acclaimed feature documentary Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, featuring JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe), Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife), Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) and Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory) amongst others.
He has created a number of courses in conjunction with Screen Ireland over the last few years, which provide breakdowns of all the major US and international streaming networks and what their evolving programming needs may be. He also initiated the Pitching Programme for TV Drama and Comedy with Screen Ireland, giving a selected group of writers the opportunity to pitch directly to some of the major Irish production companies based on briefs they provide, and created the LA Writers Room Placements scheme, which allowed Irish writers to travel to LA and spend time in real-world US TV series writers’ rooms.
He has also lectured on Showrunning, US TV Production and the Future of Content at USC Los Angeles, Rowan University Philadelphia, Scriptmakers Berlin, APIT TV Producers Conference Lisbon, Northern Ireland Screen, IADT Dublin, Writers Guild of Ireland and as part of the recent Greenlight Screenwriting Labs in Galway. He is currently developing a new documentary series, which is a US/Irish co-production, as well as providing creative consultancy services to Irish producers, writers and directors with projects targeting the US or global streaming markets.
He is also the co-founder of Destination TV along with Ciarán Donnelly, a creative skills live events company that recently brought Oscar and Emmy-nominated writer/director/showrunner Jonathan Nolan to Dublin for a masterclass.
